House and Garden 
forming panels. These panelled fences 
are not of common occurrence else¬ 
where. 
In Providence the topography of 
the city is so hilly that a great many 
of the front yards are supported by 
retaining walls which in turn support 
graceful wooden fences. The result¬ 
ing steps which lead from the door 
to the garden walls are treated pic¬ 
turesquely with high posts and gates. 
The fences and arbors of the olden 
days usually first fulfilled the utili¬ 
tarian purpose of enclosures and 
supports for climbing plants, the 
question of decoration and propor¬ 
tion following when the other re¬ 
quirements had been satisfied. But, 
as with other things, the old New 
England gardens included freaks, and the 
collection of garden ornaments which graced 
the domain of the eccentric “Lord” Timo¬ 
thy Dexter of Newburyport was probably 
the most remarkable among them. 
This curious individual was a wealthy 
merchant who earned considerable notoriety 
through various unusual commercial ven¬ 
tures, such as sending a shipload of warming 
pans to the West Indies. This apparently 
crazy speculation turned out to be one of his 
most successful, the warming pans being 
eagerly purchased by the . natives who used 
them as an improved species of farming uten¬ 
ROPES HOUSE-SALEM 
ENTRANCE GATEWAY—ROPES HOUSE, SALEM 
sil. His famous book, with several pages of 
punctuation marks at the end, to be inserted 
at the reader’s pleasure, is one of the curios¬ 
ities of New England literature. 
The annexed reproduction of an old litho¬ 
graph shows the appearance of the estate 
about the year 1810. The effigies represent 
various real and allegorical figures placed 
heterogeneously together, such as General 
Knox, Maternal Affection, the Goddess of 
Liberty, George III., Napoleon, Jack Tar, 
Lord Nelson, Louis XVI., Corn Planter, 
Traveling Preacher, etc., etc., with a sprink¬ 
ling of lions, eagles, etc. General Washing¬ 
ton occupies the place of hon¬ 
or, flanked by John Adams 
and Thomas Jefferson. Each 
statue had its proper inscrip¬ 
tion and among them was one 
relating to himself: “I am the 
greatest Philosopher of the 
Western World.” This col¬ 
lection of this “ most truly 
excentric character” no longer 
exists, the eagle on the cupola 
being tbe only remaining 
figure. 
Beside the picket and cob¬ 
web fences a number of chain 
fences formerly existed, which, 
while not having any great 
architectural value, still seem 
to be in some way part and par¬ 
cel of the narrow old streets 
231 
